Five girls, one dress; let the drama begin

Audience will “connect” with the relatable play

Resident Assistant Christa Crumrine has a water balloon toss with children from the community at the Big Brother Big Sister bash on Saturday, April 9 in front of Centennial Village. Photo by Ashley Romo

Arts of ASU will bring Alan Ball's "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," on April 25 at the Modular Theatre.

Ball's play is set in the 1980s, and it is about an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate where five bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, attempting to avoid the proceedings below. Sharing the stage with an almost all female cast is one man named Tripp, played by Tyler Tennell.

"It's one of the first times, in a long time, that I've been able to step into a romantic role," Tennell said. "It's a nice balance to play this kind of a role from the other roles I've played this semester."

"Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" is a more mature play with depictions of drug use, mild nudity, adult language and behavior. The play, however, is far more complex than those themes give it.

Maggie Hogan, who plays Meredith, said this play has helped bond the thespians and guest director, Cathryn Sanders, together.

"It was just a joy to work with someone [Sanders] who you haven't worked with before because it gives you a new angel at learning what you love to do," Hogan said. "We have taken on a strong bond of sisterhood among the cast, and I feel like I've gotten four more friends."

The bond that the girls have formed has not left the only male in the play out in the cold, however.

"At first as a guy you'd think that would be an ideal dream," Tennell said. "As we got to know each other we began to feel more like a family, and I feel very protective of them and see them more like they're my sisters."

Sanders is a relatively new theatre director at ASU, but has been working with various theatres all over the country for the last fourteen years.

"I've directed in Missouri, California, and New Mexico with different troops that I have been a part of," Sanders said. "I've taught theatre from sixth graders to college-level, and I'd say that teaching college level is my favorite."

Jordon Shocklee, who plays Trisha, said she feels right at home with the character she plays.

"Oddly enough I always seem to end up with these kinds of characters," Shocklee said. "The one difference, however, is that I am not a lead character this time. I just get to kind of sit back and let others lead and that's definitely different for me."

Morgan Slaughter, who plays Georgeanne, said that the characters in the play are ones that the audience will connect with because their stories are so relatable.

"It's got a lot of stuff that people have gone through," Slaughter said. "I think people will be able to connect with this play a little more than others we've had in the past because of that."

The play will run from April 25 - 27, showing at 8 p.m. each night, and again on May 2 - 4, at 8 p.m. There will be one matinee performance on April 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets are currently on sale in the Carr Education-Fine Arts Building. Student tickets are $3, non-students $4 and adults $8.